Benjamin Franklin放风筝的故事

Franklin's Kite

Probably the most famous experiment to do with lightning is that of Benjamin Franklin and his famous kite.

What Franklin was investigating was whether or not lightning was an electric phenomenon. This seems fairly obvious to most of us today, but we must remember that in Franklin's day the largest sparks they could make were under an inch long! Since lightning is several miles long it is not so obvious that they can be the same.

The question often arises whether or not Franklin actually did this experiment, and the answer is we do not know for sure. One thing, however, is certain: if he did do an experiment like this, he did not do it the way it is often shown. That is, he didn't tie a key to the kite string, fly it in a thunderstorm, and wait for it to be struck by lightning! Such an experiment would be very dramatic--and quite fatal.

There are safe ways to do similar things, however, and Franklin, in his vario